Explain The Destruction Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

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The American dream has a different meaning to different people. Some think “the dream” is achieving financial success, power, and status regardless of where they came neither of these. “The first thing to be said about Fitzgerald’s novel is that these enactments of the American dream are expressed in the love affairs and worldly ambitions of Jay Gatsby […] the hero is, like Fitzgerald, "a man divided," yet he seeks to integrate love of a woman with accomplishment in the world” (Callahan, 384). Gatsby, for instance, believed that his American Dream was not complete without Daisy. He had gained wealth, power, and status but without Daisy none of those things were worth it. Gatsby thinks that in order to win Daisy back he needed to have money and live up to the American Dream, so that he would be able to give Daisy everything she wanted. Jay Gatsby was deprived of sense by the American dream and in consequence, he caused destruction to himself. In the end, he did not end up getting what he desired because the American dream took over and changed who he actually was. …show more content…
Across generations, Americans shared the belief that hard work would bring opportunity and a better life” {Warren, 1). Over time the definition of happiness and the American dream has changed. In the 1920s, it became the possession of material things, as The Great Gatsby illustrates. The achievement of a individuals
American dream is the consequence of his or her own determination and willingness to work hard. A person may become lucky and find what he or she is seeking, or like in the case of Gatsby, Daisy and Myrtle the American dream may be the cause of their

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